


Daylight.

by mamazelena



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Aforementioned sex, Angst, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-03-17 05:59:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3518036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mamazelena/pseuds/mamazelena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cruella knew it would hurt when she left, but she never anticipated how much it would. She wanted one more night before it all changed, one more night with the woman she truly loved, one more night with just the two of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Daylight.

**Author's Note:**

> This popped into my head when "Daylight" by Maroon 5 came on Spotify, and then angsty Sea Devil happened.

Daylight

After a night of passionate lovemaking in Ursula's small apartment near the aquarium, Ursula lay asleep, mouth slightly open and snoring lightly as she held the other woman in her arms. Cruella, however, lay awake, her nose buried against the other woman's skin and breathing in the scent that was so uniquely Ursula. It amazed her how she still smelled of seawater at all times, especially since she knew for a fact that Ursula no longer took her sweet time to go for a dip in the seas. 

She already felt guilt eating at her insides, and she hadn't even left yet. She'd known that this would hurt, but she hadn't known that it would hurt long before she'd actually left. Her heart felt like it was being squeezed between stone bricks, and she fought hard against the stinging sensation that pressed against her eyes. If she cried now, that'd wake Ursula and she'd have to explain. She couldn't explain it to her face, because she knew that Ursula would be able to talk her out of it. She'd be able to talk her into staying here, in this tiny apartment, living off instant ramen cups and coffee made in a machine that probably would've quit working ages ago if Ursula hadn't been so forceful in fixing it just enough to keep it running. She couldn't live with that. She'd have Ursula, but she wouldn't have anything else. 

Sometime within the night, though her mind was racing with pained thoughts, doubts, and what ifs, she finally succumbed to sleep, pressing herself even closer to the woman she so loved. The woman whose heart she'd be breaking tomorrow morning. 

\----

Waking in the early morning, though she felt as if she hadn't slept at all, Cruella carefully slipped from Ursula's hold and gathered her clothing, padding her way into the bathroom to have a quick shower to freshen up. She spent the majority of it crying, hot tears rushing down her face and mixing with the hot water that hit against her skin. She didn't even feel the scalding temperature of it, all she felt was the ache in her chest and the twisting in her gut. 

Stepping from the shower, she dressed, forgoing her makeup for the day, since she knew for a fact that she'd cry it off throughout the day. She scrubbed her teeth, brushed her hair, strapped on her heels, and walked out to the main room again. She avoided looking at Ursula as she found a piece of paper and a pen, scrawling down her explanation, her goodbye, in her elegant script before leaving it on the pillow she'd once occupied. 

It was only then that she looked back at Ursula, smiling sadly at the look on her sleeping face. She leaned over then, leaving a featherlight kiss on her forehead before she leaned away, turning on her heel to walk to the door, plucking her fur coat from the hook and sliding it on, making sure she had her car keys in her pocket. It was only then that she left, closing the door gently behind her, her heels clacking on the stairs as she descended. 

\----

When she awoke, Ursula was already aware that Cruella was no longer in bed. She sat up, her hand moving to rub sleep from her eyes and brush her knotted hair from her face as she looked around, her half-awake voice calling out, "Cruella?"

Frowning, her hand slid just slightly, her palm falling over the folded piece of paper on the other pillow. She picked it up, her forehead wrinkling in confusion as she flipped it open, tears beginning to drip down her cheeks as she read:

"Ursula,

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I just had to have one last night of happiness, one last night of normalcy, one last night with you. I'm to be married today, and I couldn't tell you until now. I wanted to have one last night with you, completely and truly untethered by lies and secrets.  
I never meant to hurt you. I never wanted to.

Love,  
Cruella."

The note crumpled in her hand as she balled them into fists, pressing them harshly against her eyes as she sobbed, curling into herself as she felt the pain erupting in her chest. She'd felt pain before, even with that Pirate, but even that had felt nothing like this.

Cruella was getting married, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She didn't even know what his name was, where he lived, where they were going to live together. She'd never said anything, never hinted to it, she'd never even worn a ring. She'd just been so happy, so willing to spend time with her, acting like nothing was wrong, like nothing was ever going to change between them.

How could she have been so stupid? She'd been so willing to believe that Cruella was happy with how she lived when they were together. Cruella never acted otherwise. Maybe she was just a better actress than Ursula thought possible. Maybe she could learn something. To pretend like she didn't feel like her heart was in splinters and her eyes ached. To pretend like her head wasn't pounding and her stomach was in knots. Maybe she could learn to pretend that she was okay.

\----

A few hours later, Cruella sat in her car, parked a small ways away from the mansion her fiancé called home. She looked over when her phone vibrated in the passenger's seat again, shaking with a new phone call. She knew, even before opening her phone case and pulling her phone free, that it was Ursula. She stared at the contact picture, swallowing as she felt emotions well up again. She'd cried enough on the drive here, she couldn't cry again.

Pressing ignore, even though it killed her to do so, she slid it away, starting her car again and shaking her head. That was the past. This was to be her life now. She was to be Mrs. Cruella Feinberg in a few hours' time, and she was happy about that. She'd have wealth like she'd always wanted, so many expensive, lovely things at her fingertips, and the biggest house she'd ever seen to call her own. She took the ring out of her pocket, her fingers shaking terribly as she slipped it back onto her finger and flexed them. She was happy.

Or at least she'd learn to fake it.


End file.
